What does a CTO do and what is their role?
CTO skills, roles and responsibilities - what makes a great CTO
TL;DR: A CTO's core job is to align technology strategy with business goals- making smart hiring decisions, scaling both development processes and application architecture, and building technical leadership as the team grows from 1 to 50+ developers - while scaling themselves. The core role of a CTO consists of those thing only they can do, and no one else can.
During the dot com bubble, I was a founder and startup CTO. At the beginning I wondered what the CTO role really meant. What does CTO stand for? It implies Chief Technology Officer, but the title alone rarely explains the position. There were many conflicting views on that position. From programming to vision, from technology to processes, from tools to people. After some time and more years at managing development teams and departments, my understanding of the CTO duties and responsibilities is much clearer.
The CTO Role
When clients ask me about the CTO role, and what does a CTO do, I tell them:
- Manager
- First you are a manager. You are expected to work through people. Your boss does not expect you to do the work, but expects you to get others to do the work. This is one of the biggest mistakes and challenges I see with the CTO role, especially with people freshly promoted to the role from a developer or tech lead position.
- Multi-Role
- As a manager you have to fulfil five roles: Manager, Leader, Trainer, Coach and Mentor.
- Why are you there
- As CTO do the things only you can do. This might include the tech vision and strategy. Don’t do the things someone else might be able to do in principle. If there is none, get them to your level.
- Business
- You’re the bridge between business and technology. You need to understand the business goals and objectives and translate them into technical solutions. You need to understand the technical constraints and limitations and translate them into business solutions. Only you can do that job, one of your feet is in the business world and the other in the technology world.
- Act as an executive
- The operation of your department should work without you. You should not be involved in the day to day operations - you don’t need to know about every feature that is developed, only those that are crucial (to you ore the CEO). Being an executive means acting responsible for the whole company. You’re not the chief nerd, you’re part of the top management team. Ask yourself why you are sitting at that table.
- Keep things that you enjoy
- Many of my clients have delegated everything they enjoyed away and then run into a burnout. Keep something you enjoy close to you - if that is coding find a way to code every day.
- Manage
- If you want to know how to become a CTO: You are either promoted to the CTO role from an IC, e.g. a developer or tech lead or promoted from a management role like team lead or VP Engineering. Being promoted from a VP Engineering role is easier, as a former IC though you knew everything about your job before, now you need to manage people that do things you don’t know about. You don’t need to know everything your employees do (data, QA, devops, security) but enough to manage and lead them
Different CTO Roles
What do others think about the CTO role? Werner Vogels, CTO of Amazon, defines four roles a CTO can have:
- Infrastructure Manager
- Technology Visionary and Operations Manager
- External Facing Technologist
- Big Thinker
CTO Responsibilities
Many people have contributed to shaping the startup CTO job description and the CTO role in startups. Indus Khaitan thinks the “5 Bare Minimum Things A Web Startup CTO Must Worry About” are:
- Security
- Availability & Monitoring
- Application Errors
- Backup
- Source Control
I do agree with them, though I’m not sure Source Control is in my Top 5. Security depends on what you do and what framweworks you use, so this might not be an issue for some time into startup life. Availability gets more and more important when your customers increase and revenue over your plattform increases. Monitoring is a must from the beginning, it’s hard to add later - you lose especially a lot of insight if you have no monitoring, insight which is dearly needed in your first incident. Backup is often forgotten or underrated - do not forget to see if you really can get your site going again from a backup.
CTO Tasks
Eric Ries writes on the role of the CTO:
The CTO’s primary job is to make sure the company’s technology strategy serves its business strategy.
with five specific CTO skills and duties:
- Platform selection and technical design
- Seeing the big picture (in graphic detail)
- Provide options
- Find the 80/20
- Grow technical leaders
This is a great oversight of the CTO responsibilities, there is much more juice in that article, go ahead an read it.
CTO vs VP Engineering vs Tech Lead
| Role | What you actually do | Reports to |
|---|---|---|
| CTO | Strategy, external communication, investor pitches, explaining to the CEO why microservices aren't a good idea | CEO/Board |
| VP Engineering | Keeping the team running, processes, hiring, the reason things actually get done | CTO or CEO |
| Tech Lead | Code, architecture decisions within the team, the last person who knows how the legacy system works | Engineering Manager |
In startups under 20 people, this is often the same person. That’s fine - until it isn’t. You usually notice when everything is on fire at once and you have no time to do anything properly.
Role of CTO in Startup
The role of CTO in a startup differs significantly from the CTO role at an established company. What does a CTO do in a startup? In early-stage startups, the CTO wears many hats: architect, developer, DevOps engineer, and technical leader all at once. As the company grows, the CTO role evolves from hands-on coding to strategic leadership, team building, and aligning technology with business goals.
The startup CTO must balance building the product today with creating scalable architecture for tomorrow. They’re responsible for making technology bets that could determine the company’s success or failure. Unlike corporate CTOs who manage existing systems, startup CTOs must build from scratch while moving at startup speed.
From Startup CTO to Scale-up CTO
Tony Karrer ponders the question “Startup CTO or Developer”:
What worries me a bit is how often I read that startups should hire a developer / hands-on lead developer. I understand the desire for hiring someone who is going to product product. But often the result of a Founder hiring a developer or lead developer or even a VP engineering is a gap created between the founders and the developers. […] By the way, I’m not suggesting that startups should hire a full-time Startup CTO who is not hands-on. Rather they should get a part-time Acting CTO who can help close the gap.
I’ve distilled the (web) startup CTO job down to:
- Write code - often forgotten, but you need to be able to write code, and if you’re one of the first technical hires, there is not enough work for you if you do not write code.
- Decide if to hire or to outsource. There are reasons for both, but I’d say in 90% of cases one should hire. The CTO needs to decide which way to go, and - especially important be prepared to defend his decision. Buying is usually not the way to go for a technology or web startup. This doesn’t mean there can’t be a mix, there are often projects which can and should be outsourced.
- Hire developers, testers, admins and operators. Several times I’ve been asked to be the CTO for a startup, as in Germany most web startups are founded by ex-consultants or economics majors. They usually have no clue - nor should they have - about good or bad developers. As a CTO you need to provide this knowledge and hire the best you can get for your budget.
- Know how to scale development and processes (from 1 to 10 developers e.g.). Development changes significanty if you go from one to five and then to ten developers. You need some kind of process (I for example prefer Lean and Scrum). As a startup CTO you need to provide this in the first years (certainly not first months).
- Know technologies, craft an architecture and technology strategy.
- Know how to scale an application (from 100 to millions of users).
Frequently Asked Questions About the CTO Role
What does CTO stand for?
CTO stands for Chief Technology Officer. The CTO is the most senior technology executive in a company, responsible for technology strategy, engineering teams, and ensuring technology serves business goals. In startups, the CTO often writes code. In larger companies, the CTO focuses on strategy and leadership.
How to become a CTO?
Most CTOs follow this path: Start as a software developer, grow into a senior engineer or tech lead, then move into engineering management. The jump to CTO usually happens either by being promoted internally, joining an early-stage startup as a technical co-founder, or being hired externally. Technical excellence alone isn’t enough - you need leadership skills, business acumen, and the ability to communicate with non-technical stakeholders. Many CTOs benefit from CTO coaching to accelerate their growth.
What makes a good CTO?
A good CTO combines technical depth with leadership breadth. They can make sound architectural decisions, hire and retain great engineers, communicate effectively with the CEO and board, and align technology strategy with business goals. The best CTOs know when to code and when to delegate, when to build and when to buy, and how to scale both systems and teams.
Does CTO report to CIO?
No, typically the CTO and CIO are peer roles that both report to the CEO. The CTO focuses on external technology - building products customers use. The CIO focuses on internal technology - IT infrastructure, security, and enterprise systems. In smaller companies, one person may handle both roles. In tech companies, the CTO role is usually more prominent.
How much equity should a CTO get in a startup?
For a CTO joining as a co-founder, equity typically ranges from 10-30% depending on when they join and what they bring. For a hired CTO joining a funded startup, expect 1-5% equity. Early stage (pre-seed/seed) commands higher equity; later stages offer less equity but more salary. Always negotiate for a four-year vesting schedule with a one-year cliff.
You Don't Have to Figure This Out Alone
Most CTOs struggle in silence. They think asking for help is a sign of weakness.
It’s not. It’s a sign of wisdom.
I’ve spent 25 years as an engineering manager and CTO - at eBay, ImmoScout24, and various startups. I know the isolation at the top. The translation work between tech and business. The question of whether you even know what you’re doing. Every CTO asks themselves that.
Ready for Support?
I’ve coached 80+ CTOs through exactly these challenges. If you want someone in your corner who’s been there - let’s talk.